As expected, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever exploded out of the gates with a massive $180 million domestic opening weekend from 4,396 theaters. According to Deadline, that figure is about 5 percent behind the original Black Panther and 8 percent ahead of Thor: Love and Thunder. Considering the massive runtime and current state of moviegoing, this is an enormous win for Disney.
On Imax, Black Panther earned a November record $14.2 million from 405 US theaters. Black Panther’s opening was enough to unseat The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which held the biggest November opening record for nine years. That’s insane. Worldwide, Ryan Coogler’s epic sequel hauled in $330 million without China’s benefit. Wakanda might stick around at the box office forever with no huge releases on the horizon.
RELATED: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Review: A Triumphant Sequel
This week’s only other noteworthy release was Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans, which opened in four locations across the country and collected $160,000 — or $40K per theater. That’s about par with the limited openings for Tar ($39K) and Banshees of Inisherin ($46K). Spielberg’s autobiographical pic goes wide on November 23.
DOMESTIC TOP 10
1.) Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Dis), 4,396 theaters, Fri $84M, 3-day $175M-$185M/Wk 1
2.) Black Adam (NL) 3,603 (-382) theaters, Fri $2.7M (-43%), 3-day $10M (-45%)/Total $152.5M/Wk 4
3.) Ticket to Paradise (Uni) 3,633 (-433) theaters, Fri $2.1M (-17%), 3-day $6.3M (-25%)/Total $56.7M/Wk 4
4.) Lyle, Lyle Crocodile (Sony) 2,486 (-519) theaters, Fri $1.125M (+52%), 3-day $3M (-9%)/Total: $40.6M/Wk 6
5.) Smile (Par) 2,271 (-775) theaters, Fri $800K (-31%) ,3-day $2.285M (-43%),total $102.7M/Wk 7
6.) Prey for the Devil (LG) 2,164 (-816) theaters, Fri $678K (-40%), 3-day $1.9M (-51%) Total $16.8M/ Wk 3
7.) One Piece Film Red (Crunchy) 2,161 (-206) theaters, Fri $481K (-90%), 3-day $1.53M (-84%)/Total $12.8M/Wk 2
8.) Banshees of Inisherin (Sea) 960 (+65) Fri $548K (-25%), 3-day $1.5M (-25%), Total $5.6M/Wk 4
9.) Till (UAR) 1,358 (-778) theaters, Fri $193K (-63%), 3-day $685K (-63%)/Total $8.1M/Wk 5
10.) Yashoda (Cine) 200 theaters, Fri $137K, 3-day $395K/Wk 1
